No inline baggage screening system at Kolkata airport before Durga Puja

KOLKATA: Kolkata airport is set to miss the Durga Puja deadline for commissioning of inline baggage screening system. The facility that does away with the need to queue up to get bags X-rayed before they are dropped off at the check-in counter is already in operation at other metro airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hydradabad. But Kolkata airport, which shifted operations to the integrated terminal in 2013, is yet to commission inline X-ray in the domestic wing and has missed the deadline several times.

The facility that was available in the international wing for two years is also not in operation at present as the X-ray machines are being replaced by advanced Computer Tomography X-ray (CTX) machines.
“We had hoped to commission inline baggage scan before Durga Puja when passenger count shoots up. But that is not happening as officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), who tested the XBIS, have suggested improvements in the baggage handling system (BHS). We have contacted Siemens that has supplied the BHS and has the maintenance contract. They have sought time till October 15 to revamp it,” a source at Kolkata airport told TOI.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the nodal agency in India for ensuring safety in flights, had asked Kolkata airport operator Airports Authority of India (AAI) to get the inline baggage scan system tested by TSA, an agency of the US department of Homeland Security that was set up after the 9/11 terror attacks on America.
According to the source, while the CTX machines passed muster, the inspection team wasn't satisfied with the BHS that ferries thousands of bags from check-in desks in the departure lounge to the despatch point for airlines in the apron area. It is crucial to the inline baggage scan project as each and every bag has to pass through the CTX machines and those that are found to be 'suspect' have to be segregated for further inspection without disrupting the baggage flow.
The first screener has to take the decision of passing or segregating a bag within 15-20 seconds. Once a bag is categorised suspect, it is shifted from the channel to another belt where it then passes through a conventional X-ray machine. The second screener gets more time to review the image, and if still not satisfied, the owner will be called to open the bag.
Sources said the BHS showed signs of faltering when a full load-check with peak hour baggage throughput was conducted. "The BHS was installed seven years ago. However, the inline system was not implemented. The wear and tear over time has led to inefficiency creeping into the system. Siemens did not expect a full load-check," an official said.
Siemens has begun working on the system software. Thereafter, work on the physical part of BHS will be done.